Blackbird Ventures

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #181, 11th October 2026

Weekly digest: Firmus withdraws its planned listing, Square Peg reaches a billion-dollar close on two vehicles, MUFG clears regulators to buy Grow Inc, and Lubdub, RocketDNA, Energy Bay and Metal all raise.

Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Square Peg raises $696M for two new funds

Square Peg Capital has banked about US$647 million for two fresh vehicles, its biggest fundraise yet. The piece also recalls Blackbird's billion-dollar fund and Square Peg's past stake sales and exit windfalls.

Square Peg raises over $1 billion for new funds amid AI bonanza

Venture firm Square Peg has confirmed two funds holding more than $1 billion between them, alongside a look back at its biggest bets, sell-downs and the acquisitions that delivered windfalls.

Also Dealroom

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #180, 4th October 2026

Weekly roundup reporting Australian startup funding rounds and government grants, a venture fund close, agreed acquisitions, an IPO pricing, a collapse, plus executive hires and AI policy developments.

‘The next grid will be made of light’: Laser energy startup Aquila takes out Most Innovative Startup

Customer data startup Paperbark signs Unilever brands to tackle ecommerce sales gaps

Paperbark, a Sydney startup helping ecommerce retailers recover lost revenue, was founded by Bryce Antoine and Eli Simic, took $120,000 from Josh Parsons, and has signed Onnit and Olly, two Unilever-owned brands.

Also This Week in Australian Startups

Heidi Health expands into AI admin agents to challenge legacy rivals

AI medical scribe firm Heidi Health, backed by Blackbird Ventures, is adding autonomous assistants that handle administrative work for doctors, demoing them at a customer event as it challenges entrenched healthcare software vendors.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #179, 26th September 2026

Weekly roundup recording a dozen raises and acquisitions, Firmus's scheduled float, a new $50m venture fund, a founder share sale, grant winners, an accelerator intake, and an AI agent's government breach.

Also DealStreetAsia·Dealroom·This Week in Australian Startups·AFR Technology·AFR Technology·Startup Daily·AFR Technology·AFR Technology·ABC News Technology·iTnews

Heidi raises A$475m to expand beyond clinical notes

Heidi, an Australian clinical AI firm, has banked new funding of US$340m, anchored by a Blackbird-led Series C, to move past scribing into AI agents that handle healthcare tasks under clinician oversight.

Heidi hits $1.2 billion valuation with $470 million in fresh funding

Heidi raised US$100m in a Blackbird-led Series C plus US$240m in customer-acquisition finance from General Catalyst, reaching a $1.26 billion valuation as Australia's fourth billion-dollar startup of the year.

Also Dealroom·Cut Through Venture·Startup Daily·This Week in Australian Startups·Dynamic Business·This Week in Australian Startups·Mirage News·This Week in Australian Startups·Forbes Australia

AI debt recovery fintech OpenDebt bags $2 million in pre-Seed

Sydney fintech OpenDebt, which applies AI agents to debt recovery, has secured $2 million in pre-seed backing from Blackbird and Antler to grow its team and explore US partnerships.

Also Australian FinTech·Business News Australia·This Week in Australian Startups·Dynamic Business

Main Sequence targets $400 million for new fund amid deep tech boom

Deep-tech investor Main Sequence is seeking $400 million for a fourth fund, with $75 million already committed by the federal government, after two portfolio companies reached unicorn status this year.

Startmate alumni Evatto raises $1.02 million pre-Seed

Sydney event-tech startup Evatto has raised a pre-seed round led by Perth firm Purpose Ventures to build its platform and expand abroad, after going through Startmate's Summer 26 program under its earlier name Wiingman.

Also thesaasnews.com·app.fundz.net·trysignalbase.com·Dealroom

Airtree extends its first fund to July 2028 to hold onto Canva stake

Investors approved extending Airtree's 2014 debut fund to mid-2028 so the firm can keep its Canva holding; the piece also recalls Canva's Series A and Airtree's later fund totals.

Skalata named Australia's most active investor for H1 2024

Australian startup capital climbed 30% in early 2024 even as deal counts fell; Skalata Ventures topped investor activity with 13 participations, ahead of Blackbird and Investible.

Also TechCrunch Venture·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Australian FinTech·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia

Founders and false prophets: a pitch to the founders who’ve stopped listening

Skalata Ventures uses its recent accolade as Australia's busiest early-stage investor to pitch founders on its hands-on, seed-specialist approach, arguing most VCs overpromise support and underdeliver.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #176, 30th August 2026

Weekly roundup: Blackbird confirms a record fund close and Galileo reaches a first close, Genesis merges with Proudi, IREN secures massive debt, and several startups report raises, grants and program wins.

Two ANZ startups that raised $21 million this week

Two raises reported: Superhero has banked $20m of a hoped $30m round led by Salter Brothers at a $176m valuation, while New Zealand crime-intelligence startup Azonic took NZ$1m in a Blackbird-led pre-seed.

Blackbird mulls new Canva options as VCs battle impatient investors

Blackbird is weighing an early sale of its Canva stake through continuation funds, while Airtree's longtime backers are pushing it to return profits; no deal has been done.

Blackbird nails 2nd $1 billion fund

Blackbird has locked in a second billion-dollar fund — its sixth, slightly bigger than the last — bringing in new institutional backers, and the article recalls portfolio wins, writedowns and failures.

The 8 Australian startups on Forbes Asia's 100 To Watch list

Eight Australian companies make Forbes Asia's annual 100 To Watch list; the piece profiles each and recaps recent raises across climate tech, health and software.